In fact, data shows a clear seasonal dip in engagement: Salesforce found email open rates trend downward from spring through late August when many subscribers are away.
HubSpot similarly reports that during the summer, website traffic and qualified leads drop across most industries. During June 2020, a pandemic-affected summer, Construction traffic dropped 12% and Financials 11%, underscoring how external factors can amplify seasonal dips.
That said, a primed pipeline can still win deals. HubSpot also notes that in 2021, Leisure & Hospitality saw a 44.7% jump in summer closings compared to pre-COVID levels.
So, don’t panic! By proactively automating your CRM, you can keep leads warm and position yourself to convert when summer ends. A little upfront setup in your CRM can yield big time savings and keep your pipeline flowing.
- People are out enjoying their lives. Imagine that your top account executive finally lands a demo with the perfect-fit prospect… only to discover the CFO is backpacking through Patagonia until mid-August. Sounds familiar? This is an all-too-common scenario our clients face in the summer.
- Office energy also dips. Research shows productivity shrinks by up to 20% and attendance drops 17% from June through August. Fewer meetings get booked, fewer follow-ups happen, and “circle back in September” becomes a common response.
- Budgets hit a mid-year pause. Finance teams often lock down discretionary spend while reconciling H1 results, pushing “nice-to-have” purchases to Q4 or the next fiscal year.
- Long sales cycles get even longer. Enterprise deals already average six months or more. Add two weeks of PTO for a VP, and that August close can drift well into Q4.
All these friction points collide to slow deals… not because your solution suddenly lost value, but because human calendars, fiscal schedules, and demand shift with the seasons. The good news is that summer is a predictable pattern you can plan for. Keep reading to find out how you can do exactly that!
- Consistent follow-ups. Automated drip emails and alerts ensure no lead goes cold just because someone’s on vacation. You can, for example, queue up personalized nurture emails so prospects see timely content even when your reps are out of office. By keeping in touch without manual effort, you’ll stay top-of-mind for customers.
- Time savings. With automation handling repetitive work, salespeople reclaim hours every week. In fact, HubSpot reports sales reps regain about 2 hours and 15 minutes per day by offloading routine tasks to AI and workflow tools. That could mean the difference between chasing every last lead or focusing on closing deals.
- Higher ROI. Studies consistently show automation pays off. One research review found companies recoup their marketing automation costs in under six months and see an average 5.44× return on every dollar spent. Even small teams can see a bigger impact on revenue once workflows are in place.
- Improved productivity. Automations free your team to do high-value work. Instead of slogging through data entry or missed follow-ups, your reps can focus on pitching to truly qualified, warmed-up leads.
These efficiencies mean you can hit your goals with less wasted effort (perfect for making the most of those slower months!)
Here are some specific automations to set up before summer hits (or even during the summer), so your pipeline keeps heating up:
Automated Email Drip and Nurture Campaigns
Build pre-scheduled email sequences in your CRM. For example, trigger a series of helpful content or product tips after someone downloads a whitepaper or fills a form. Use personalization tokens (first name, company, etc.) to keep it friendly.
Done well, this “set‑and‑forget” nurturing pays off. A winter content drip can keep a lead warm so your team can pick up the conversation later, without losing trust or top-of-mind. We recommend segmenting your audience (by region, industry, etc.) so the messages feel relevant, even in quieter times.
AI-Powered Lead Scoring & Task Reminders
Modern CRMs like Salesforce Einstein or integrated tools can automatically score and prioritize leads based on behavior.
For example, if a prospect who downloaded a pricing sheet hasn’t been contacted in 3 days, the system can flag it. You can also create automated tasks or reminders. (“If a contact hasn’t engaged in 2 weeks, ping a sales rep.”) These rules ensure high-value leads don’t slip through the cracks when workflow gets hectic.
Chatbots & Conversational Automation
Deploy chatbots or virtual assistants on your website and messaging apps to capture interest around the clock. A chatbot can answer FAQs, qualify visitors, or even schedule meetings when your team is offline. This is especially useful when response times usually lag.
Buyers today expect instant answers: a well‑trained bot can greet prospects and keep the conversation alive for you, even when your sales reps are in the Bahamas.
Data Hygiene & Automated Follow-Ups
Set up flows to keep your database clean and trigger re-engagement. For example, build a nightly or weekly workflow that flags duplicate or stale records, deletes bad emails, or updates missing info (like region or size).
We even recommend pruning truly inactive contacts to protect your sender reputation. Having clean data means that when fall comes, your CRM is full of fresh, accurate leads ready to buy.
By implementing these automations before slow periods hit, you ensure leads stay nurtured and sales opportunities are never forgotten.
Salesforce itself is rolling out smarter automation for 2025. In Summer ’25, the Flow Builder became faster and friendlier (the new “Create Flow” wizard guides admins to the right flow type in seconds).
Salesforce has already rolled out its Agentforce suite of AI tools for its platform. Users can embed Einstein GPT-generated actions into Flows—for example, automatically drafting an email reply or generating a follow-up task from a support case.
And Einstein Copilot (Salesforce’s built‑in AI assistant) can now do even more: it will suggest updates to your pipeline (like filling in Next Steps on deals) from meeting notes. It even offers automated nurturing for Contacts and Person Accounts, not just new Leads.
What does this mean for your team? These updates help your CRM do the heavy lifting. You can auto-draft follow-up emails, auto-assign leads to reps, and use dynamic workflows that learn from past interactions.
If a high-value customer clicks a link in a summer email, Flow and Agentforce can trigger an alert to sales and add that lead to an urgent nurture track… all automatically!
Salesforce’s 2025 tools are designed to keep your processes running smoothly (and intelligently) in the background. Pairing these with marketing data (segment scores, web behavior, etc.) lets you personalize follow-ups at scale.
Don’t let the summer slowdown leave your pipeline cold.
At CRM Forge, we have helped 1,500+ clients turn their CRMs into lean sales machines. Our Salesforce-certified experts will work collaboratively with you to design and deploy the automations you need. We believe in data-driven, honest advice, so we’ll show you exactly where automation can move the needle (and how!)
Contact our 5-star team today for friendly Salesforce support and automation expertise. Let’s make this summer your most productive season yet!
